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Committee kills assault rifle ban

The Associated Press

Posted:
02/22/2013 08:47:17 AM MST

SANTA FE, N.M.—A New Mexico house committee has killed a proposed ban on assault weapons.

The Albuquerque Journal reports ( http://bit.ly/W83Bxg) the five-member House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee voted 3-2 to table the bill late Thursday. Democratic committee chair Rep. Eliseo Alcon of Milan joined the panel's two Republicans to oppose the measure.

Alcon said he voted against the bill because he believes the federal government will take action against assault-style weapons soon.

The bill by Democratic Rep. Stephen Easley of Santa Fe would have prohibited the purchase or transfer of assault-style weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines after July 1. Current owners would have been allowed to keep their weapons.

Easley says a ban is necessary to limit access to the kind of weapons that have become prevalent in mass shootings like the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn. last December

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